TURKEY-EU: BLOC CAN BECOME ‘GLOBAL PLAYER’ OR REMAIN A ‘CHRISTIAN CLUB’

AKI, Italy
Oct 3 2005

Ankara, 2 Oct. (AKI) – As the scheduled start on Monday of Turkey’s
entry talks with the European Union looked threatened by objections
from some of the bloc’s members, the Turkish premier urged the EU not
to remain a “Christian club”. “Europe can either decide to become
a global actor or it can fence itself off as a Christian club,”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Sunday during a visit
to Turkey’s eastern Anatolia region.

On Monday, an EU emergency meeting in Luxembourg went into a second
day, as Austria clung to a demand that the 25-nation bloc offer Turkey
a “privileged partnership”‘ as an alternative to full membership in
talks due to start at 5 pm local time.

British foreign secretary Jack Straw, told journalists after bilateral
meetings with Austrian foreign minister, Urusla Plassnik, as well
as with the foreign ministers of Greece and Cyprus – who also have
deep reservations over the Turkish bid – that negotiations were
“hard and diffucult.”

Straw added that he “could not be certain ” that an agreement could
be reached.

In an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica published on Monday,
Erdogan reiterated the Turkish government’s assertion that it has
complied with all the preconditions set by Brussels for the start of
the talks, and that he was confident that they would go ahead.

“I believe that those who promised to begin this journey will keep
their word,” he said, but warned, that “if today they place before
us different conditions, then Turkey will not swallow such a ruse,
and it will continue along its own path.”

Erdogan dismissed one of the main sticking points to the Turkish bid:
Ankara’s refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus, which was recently
described as an “act of provocation” by the Cypriot foreign minister,
George Iacovu.

“I would like to say only this: Remember 24 April 2004, the day of
the United Nations referendum on Cyprus’ re-unification, accepted by
the Turkish Cypriots but which failed because of a boycott by Greek
Cypriots. One week later Greek Cyprus became a EU member with all of
its border problems… whoever fails to resolve these problmes cannot
claim to represent the whole island [of Cyprus] but can only present
itself as southern Cyprus,” Erdogan said.

Another stumbling block to Turkey’s accession is the country’s refusal
to allow public debate on the so-called “Armenian Genocide,” of 1915
which according to many historians claimed the lives of some 1.5
million Armenians. Erdogan has defended renowned Turkish author,Orhan
Pamuk, who is to stand trial for writing about the massacre in a recent
newspaper article, but the Turkish premier argues his hands are tied.

“The media has to understand that this case [Pamuk’s] does not involve
the country’s executive and legislative powers, but the judiciary. It’s
up to the magistrates to evaluate the facts and we have to respect
their decisions,” Erdogan told La Repubblica.

Turkey would become the EU’s first Muslim member, with a population
of 72 million that would rank it as the EU’s second largest country
after Germany. It would also be the bloc’s poorest country, with
gross domestic product per person at a quarter of the EU average.

Resistance to Turkish entry rose after French and Dutch voters four
months ago rejected the EU constitution, partly out of concern that
the future admission of Turkey would cost jobs and growth in western
Europe.

Only 35 percent of EU citizens favour letting Turkey in, according
to an EU-sponsored poll in September.